JACKSON, Tenn. - One year ago Allison Rader was torn between returning to basketball or walking away. Her teammates and Lee women's coach Marty Rowe are overjoyed that she decided to give it one more try.
Rader, after a red-shirt year two seasons ago, is currently a fifth-year senior. Her 25 points in the Elite Eight of the NAIA National Women's Championship were a key factor in the Lady Flames' 65-60 upset victory over Vanguard University (Calif.), and No. 1 seed in the tourney.
The former Cleveland High standout would not be denied in the final three minutes of play.
With the Lions leading 58-53, Rader nailed two free throws. For the game she was a perfect 10-of-10 from the stripe. With 2:05 remaining, she made it a three-point game by driving hard for a lay-up.
Vanguard responded with a couple of free throws by Molly Pfohl at the 1:42 mark to make it a 60-55 game. Lee responded with two more freebies by Brooke McKinnon to cut the lead to 60-57. For the game, the Lady Flames converted 18-of-21 charity attempts, another key factor in the win.
It was time for Rader to strike again. After a traveling violation by the Lions, the Lee guard was fouled and knocked down two more precious free throws. It was a 60-59 nail-bitter.
On the other end, Vanguard's Diana Neves could not pull off the same trick. She missed on the front end of a one-plus-one with 1:05 showing. Rader's domination continued. After committing the hustle foul against Neves, the determined Rader went streaking near the Vanguard hoop and was fouled with 45 seconds left. Two more free throws gave Lee the lead, 61-60.
The Lions missed their go-ahead attempts and again the ever-present Rader was fouled with 30 seconds remaining. The rest is history. She made four freebies in the final 30 seconds.
Not only did the Lee leader score a career high of 25 points, she and her Lee teammates became the first Lee basketball team to reach the Final Four. They will face the winner of St. Xavier and Azusa Pacific on Monday night at 9 p.m. Eastern.
While Rader was grabbing the spotlight on Saturday, coach Marty Rowe probably described the situation best. "This is really a testimony of our will to win," said Rowe who directed a Brescia team to the Final Four before accepting the Lee job. "It was the team's will to win that helped us advance. Rader was something. She was lights-out at the end but we really played well as a team, just like we have the entire tournament."
Katie Nelson and McKinnon were also primetime players in the win for the 31-5 Lady Flames. Both finished with 15 points. McKinnon grabbed eight rebounds and dished off three assists. Nelson had seven boards, three blocks and two assists. Senior Kayce Addison was the game's rebounding leader with 12 and she also turned in an excellent defensive effort on Vanguard's Bridgette Reyes.
"It wasn't a beauty pageant showing," admitted Rowe. "Our girls are playing as hard as they can. They have put in the time and effort to advance in this tournament. It reminds me so much of my last Brescia team."
Lee overcame 21 turnovers in the contest but shot 40 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Lions 39-32. However, the defense held the high-scoring Lions to just 32 percent shooting from the field and 27 percent from 3-point range. Lee out-scored Vanguard by six at the charity stripe.
"We stepped through a tiny crack in the tournament door today," said Rowe. "We want to walk through an even bigger crack on Monday night. Right now, the way these girls are playing, I like our chances."